


Unplanned Promises

by rudennotgingr



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-20
Updated: 2013-08-20
Packaged: 2017-12-24 03:17:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/934666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rudennotgingr/pseuds/rudennotgingr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Rose Tyler-“</p>
<p>She stood rooted to the spot, staring at the man before her. Her brain was not fully comprehending what was going on. Chaotic thoughts swirled and danced in her head. This is not how she thought it would happen. She had promised him her forever, and meant it, but had hardly thought about the implications and possibilities since then.</p>
<p>After all, there were no guarantees when you ran with the Doctor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unplanned Promises

**Author's Note:**

> Originally done for the Speechless prompt from the I Bring Life Project on Tumblr. Unbeta'd all mistakes are mine.

He still couldn’t believe he was doing this. He was a Time Lord after all. Welllll, mostly anyways. But he wanted to make Rose happy. He lived to make her happy.

He had come up with the idea a few months ago as their TARDIS had neared her completion cycle. He was itching to take her for a spin, Rose Tyler at his side. The life they had created together was wonderful and more than he ever hoped for, but he knew they both felt more at home traveling the stars. The more ready the TARDIS became, the more he thought of their future together. She was no longer just his traveling companion. That issue had been resolved in a most satisfactory way only two weeks after being left on that bloody beach. Considering the uniqueness of their situation, and living with Jackie Tyler at the time, two weeks was saying an awful lot. The term girlfriend left a weird taste in his mouth. It even caused an involuntary look of disgust just thinking about it. Rose was so much more than that. English would never be able to fully describe what she was to him. But surely there was something better.

One day, as he was tinkering around in the mostly functional console room it hit him. Literally. One of the spanners he had been using slipped off its perch above him and pegged him right between the eyes. As much as it hurt, it was nothing compared to the injury he gave himself bolting up like lightening, banging his head. She would never ask him outright for this, she knew how he felt about domestics. She had even chided her mother every time Jackie tried to bring up the subject. But the Doctor knew better. He could see it in her expression, despite her best efforts at hiding it from him. Thus his brilliant plan was formed.

Tonight he was ready. He had every thing planned perfectly. He made triple sure the TARDIS was in working order. He had picked a planet that was sure to contain the most romantic spot with minimal chance of danger. Well, as long as this planet was the same as the one with the same name in the other universe. According to his research and calculations it was. He was half tempted to go find out for sure ahead of time. The thought of something going wrong and ending up stranded on some far off planet without Rose was too much for his human heart to bear. He almost gave himself a panic attack just thinking about it. He would have to chance it, and hope that Rose wasn’t as jeopardy friendly in this universe. As long as nothing interrupted him smack in the middle of it all he could make it work. He had taken extra care to make sure Rose had cleared her schedule but refused to tell her why. Of course she had pressed and guessed, even bribing him in some very unique ways. "Rose Tyler, you could shag me within an inch of my life, and I still wouldn't tell you. Defeats the purpose of calling it a surprise." She tried anyway. He was still amazed at his ability to keep silent on the matter. She probably guessed it had something to do with the TARDIS, she was brilliant after all, and that was fine by him. Thoughts of the TARDIS would distract her from his true intention.

The evening had arrived and every thing was perfect. Save one thing. He had gone into the bedroom to select an outfit for Rose. Seeing as how she didn’t know where they were going she had laid three different outfits on their bed. The final decision was left to the Doctor. In his haste of deciding which would be most appropriate, but still able to run in, just in case, he had carelessly left the ring out in the open. Right smack in the middle of their bed. He was halfway down the stairs to the basement in order to prepare the TARDIS when he noticed it wasn’t in his jacket pocket. He froze and whacked himself on the forehead with the heel of his palm. If only he hadn’t been so distracted picturing her in each outfit and the different ways he could remove them. Muttering curses under his breath in several alien languages, he dashed up the stairs. 

He heard Rose moving around in the kitchen, talking to herself about some bloody alien never putting things back in the same place twice. Crisis averted…so far. He knew he had only a minute before she would come through the living room to head to their bedroom. He sneaked down the hall, slipped into the bedroom and snatched the little velvet box off the bed. He spun on the spot and made to scurry back down the hall. While he hurried through the living room he tried to stuff the box in his pocket. He felt his foot collide with something solid. The box flew across the room as he crashed to the floor. Wincing and kicking the guilty pair of spare trainers under the coffee table he desperately scrambled towards the little box. His heart pounded in his ears as he heard Rose approaching.

“Ha!” He exclaimed triumphantly as his hand clasped around the box. He got to his knees and made to shove the little bugger into his pocket where it belonged. Only then did he look up and notice that Rose was standing right above him. She had one eyebrow arched as she looked him over, trying to figure out what he was doing in the living room on his knees.

He started to rise and wracked his brain for a plausible explanation, mouth opening and closing in desperation. He froze as he noticed her expression, eyes wide with shock. Her gaze had fallen on his hand. The box had popped open in the fall, revealing the sparkling deep blue gem inlaid on a delicate silver band which was nestled in soft black velvet. Her eyes met his and all she could manage to do was open her mouth in question.

His plans flew out the window as he saw realization spread across her face. Realization and doubt. That hurt. But then again he had always made it clear that he didn’t do domestics. Painfully clear he thought to himself. He needed to wipe the doubt from her mind. As he pictured what he looked like to her in that instant, down on one knee with a ring in one hand, he imagined now was just as good a time as any. He opened his mouth and only managed to squeak out “Rose Tyler-” before having to clear his throat and attempt to start over.

He saw a brief flicker of pain cross her face. Mentally he slapped himself. Of course that would remind her of that first time she was left on the beach, all alone. Why couldn’t he have just finished his bloody sentence? He had this all planned out ahead of time. He had gone over and over what he wanted to say to her, the feelings he wanted to express. But then again this particular situation hadn’t been planned for. Leave to him to muck it up. And leave it to Rose to make him nervous. He cleared his throat and decided to make it quick and painless. He could still see the disbelief in her eyes. everything he wanted to say could be said later.

“Marry me?”

She blinked and continued to stare at him in stunned silence. Well this wasn’t at all what he had planned or hoped for. With the way things had been going between them he had assumed he would get an automatic yes. Now he wasn’t so certain. Seconds, or was it minutes, passed by. Once again, Rose had skewed his time sense. He wasn't certain of anything but the deafening silence. Maybe she didn't hear him. Maybe she didn't want him like that. He could feel panic rise in his chest. “Umm, Rose?”

She didn’t trust herself to speak. She had been about to tease him on his lack of organizational skills in the kitchen when she had found him on their living room floor. At first she had been amused. That was before she had seen him rise to one knee with the most beautiful ring she had ever seen in one of his hands. That sight had nearly given her a heart attack. She had always dreamed of this. But only in the very back corner of her mind. After all, the Doctor and domestics didn’t mix. The little he had been forced to do since starting a more human life with her had been done with no shortage of complaining. And that was fine. He had promised her the one life he had to live now, and that was enough for her. Of course she had thought about it when her mum brought it up. What girl in love wouldn’t? But she never entertained the idea for long.

So what was this about? Was this a joke? A dream? She didn’t dare move in fear of ruining whatever moment this was. He had been just as silent, frantically flicking his eyes all over the room before meeting her gaze. He was the one to break the silence by saying her name and stopping mid-sentence. Images and memories from what seemed a lifetime ago bubbled to the surface. She flinched. An expression full of hurt that she had inadvertently caused him settled on his face. She instantly regretted it but didn’t know how to fix it. She hadn’t wanted to remember being stranded on the beach that first time. She had poured her heart out to him then and the last she heard from him before his image faded was her name. Her heart had shattered into a million pieces that day. Even though she had found him again, her heart now more than healed, the memory of that moment still caused a painful ache in her chest. She heard him clear his throat and try again. The question she never thought she would hear him ask filled the air between them. 

She stood rooted to the spot, staring at the man before her. Her brain was not fully comprehending what was going on. Chaotic thoughts swirled and danced in her head. This is not how she thought it would happen. She had promised him her forever, and meant it, but had hardly thought about the implications and possibilities since then.

He had just barely whispered her name again when she threw her arms around his neck. She had thrown herself at him with such force that she knocked him backwards on to the floor. Caught off guard he wrapped his arms around her as she buried her face in his neck. He was now genuinely puzzled. Her body began to gently shake as she cried into his shoulder. He was horrified. What on this Earth had he done now?

He held her tighter and whispered into her ear, “Did I do something wrong?” Her head shot up, tears running down her cheeks. But her face had the biggest grin he ever saw and her eyes radiated pure love. Even with her tears she was beautiful. His heart caught in his throat waiting for her answer. She gently shook her head at him. “So these are what humans call happy tears then?” She only nodded, but continued to beam at him. He thought he would melt under her gaze. But he had to know her answer for sure. His nervous heart raced. “Is that a yes then? Cause if it’s not, that’s ok. I just thought…well, being part human and all. And I know you always say it doesn’t matter. And I kind of messed it up anyway. But I just thought, if you want to that is…it might, I don’t know. Maybe we could-“

She silenced his rambling with a gentle kiss. He tried to protest at first, but when she became more forceful, pressing her body into his, an understanding dawned on him. That was definitely Rose Tyler for “yes.” If she wasn’t going to speak, he wouldn’t either. The TARDIS could wait.

All those things he wanted to tell her, he would show her instead.


End file.
